Trip Report: Chiang Mai

[TrongpaiExpat]

I just got back to Bangkok from a two week trip to Northern Thailand. Here is my report on Chiang Mai.

We flew in on NOK air and was met by Jaip of PJ' guest house. We arrived at PJ's and was met my Peter the owner and some very cute house boys whisked our luggage off to the room. JP's was just perfect in every way. I was only planning on staying for 5 days but I liked PJ's so much I extended my visit to 8 days.

I was joined by an old friend from US who had never been to Chiang Mai, so the first two days were filled with the usual tourist venues. I did enjoy a nice trip to Doi Ithian. All the rain had the waterfalls at peak flow.

The best bar visit was Adam's Apple. The shows are back to their former glory, or at least were last Saturday night. It's still touch and go, I hear with the shows in Chiang Mai. One night at the New My Way, the show was a dud, yet others report different just a few weeks ago. The beer bars were quiet. There is a lot of construction going on the the night market area, as is in all of Chiang Mai.

The best restaurant I my opinion was the Good View. We never had a bad meal in Chiang Mai.

We did a few visits to the House of Male. Not exactly Babylon but decent. More Farangs than Thais on the weekends.

Tuk Tuks were a pain with inflated farang prices. Song-tows sometimes work out better but renting a motocy for the week is a good option if you don't mind driving in Thailand. Chiang Mai driver are not as crazy as Bangkok or Pattaya.

One night we went to a Disco named Mandalay and here's an inovation, it was smoke free. The performers were good and did I mention it's smoke free! Of course a few would light up in the smoking outer lounge and then hide the cigarette in their hand and enter, but only a few and I did not reek of smoke as is the usual on one of these venues.

I think there was a link to PJ s guesthouse.Why did you like it,what was good about it? I went to Chiang Mai last July,stayed in the Night Bazaar inn.However i wouldnt mind knowing more about PJ S.
Adams Apple had there show on where they all "finish".]
They also had a ladyboy comedian on,who claims he was from Australia.
I like Adams.I met this american bloke who shared our Tuk Tuk ,he was from America ,a university teacher.it was pissing down rain back in July.
I loved Chiang Mai,went to the snake,elephant,orchid farms.

The Bars were all in one area,laneway.The boys had no off fees but some were underage and had no ID as they wernt Thai they were Akha.
What do they call that area where the bars are?

http://pjs-place.com/

[TrongpaiExpat]

I think there was a link to PJ s guesthouse.Why did you like it,what was good about it?

All the usual: Good service, good location, clean, comfortable and good value for the quality.

[SteveSF-old]

I would recommend talking to Mohamad at his Garden Bar. (Directly across from Adam's Apple bar). He is a nice fellow, and is very knowledgeable about the Chiang Mai restaurant scene, amongst other things. His bar is also a nice place to take a break from the usual bar scene, and you are bound to run into an expat or two that will actually engage in a real conversation! It's a welcome break from the "hello, what your name, where you come from" routine.